-First print run is 25000 to be exact. The English copies even have the exact number of each copy of the first print run on the front of the box (like “2155/25000”), which is a nice touch.

-It is his most expensive game. And Scythe is $90 msrp. So I would budget for at least $95 if I were you.

-Sculpts: He made it sound like there aren’t miniature people (soldiers, etc.). So I’m guessing the sculpts will be more like structures, buildings, etc., that go onto the board or your player mat. These are likely the main contributors to it being his “most expensive game.”

-He also mentioned there are lots of asymmetrical civilizations you can start with, more will be left in the box than on the table in a five player game. At the beginning of the game, each player will have “a few” to choose from that were randomly dealt out. They stick with one Civ throughout the game.

-There is a tile laying element on your player mat, somewhat similar to A Feast for Odin. I believe he also mentioned that there are progression tracks you advance on and lots of income (points?) scored in the final rounds, somewhat similar to Russian Railroads. I didn’t catch if he mentioned how it relates to Mombasa. But he identified these three games as his biggest sources of inspiration for the game (including the Civilization video game).

-Expect to be able to see the game played by the end of this month or beginning of September (when preorders will also go live). Also expect a Watch It Played (Rules explanation) video. 11 copies were shipped yesterday to reviewers, a podcaster, Rodney, etc.

-The game has mainly positive player interaction, very little negative interaction, and other players may benefit from one player’s developments.

-The game has loads of easter eggs (mainly on the cards or board)

-It will be available to demo/purchase at Essen Spiel, so expect a retail release before that date

-The main difference between Tapestry and existing Civ games is that Tapestry is not based on real world history. This was a major focus during the design... that you can make your own Civilization and chart your own path.

-The rule book is 4 pages, which is one of Jamey’s proudest achievements of the game. The rule book is also the same fancy material as the Wingspan rule book.

-The game took roughly 18 months to develop (from initial idea to today)

-No expansions planned yet, but he has an idea brewing for at least one expansion

-He personally ranked the complexity at 3, and said Scythe was closer to 3.5 while Wingspan was 2-2.5.

-The game board is smaller than Scythe (it is a 4 fold) and is different each game as players will lay out hex tiles on the board.

-The box is the same dimensions as the Wingspan box, except 10 cm deep rather than 7 cm deep. Don’t remember the exact weight, but he might have said 2.8 or 2.9 kg.

-The box has a custom tray/insert, but it is not from Game Trayz

-No wood components, though it sounds like the sculpts are more unique and clay-like than regular plastic minis

-While this is his most expensive game, he also stated this is by far his fanciest production and companies will have a hard time coming up with premium versions of his already premium components

-While there are lots of variable Civs to start with, you can choose your color of pieces (so more like Viticulture than Scythe in choosing player colors)

-Everyone will be able to preorder at the same time directly from Stonemaier in early September, but it will ship to Stonemaier champions first (and for free in the US or discounted internationally)

-There is no catch-up/rubber band mechanism. He didn’t feel the need to add one as there are many paths players can take and he tried to keep them as balanced as possible. It is also pretty hard to tell who is winning during the game. The winner is the player with the most victory points at the end of the game.

-There is very little (if any at all) luck in the game. The best player will win.

-The game spans from primitive Civ all the way to near future. The Civs are all human, just different races and cultures and such. They have different ideologies and philosophies, but there are no religions in the game. Diplomacy is not a core element in the game.

-The game is self contained (not Legacy or campaign style), but has a lot of variability and replayability.

Michael: As a playtester, you're allowed to say anything that I've said publicly. Have I said those things publicly?

Also, reviewers have an embargo to say anything until late August (and then another embargo to share their opinions until early September). Just because review copies have been sent doesn't mean they--or anyone--can talk about it.

(Just to be clear, Nick's post is fine and useful. There was a comment from a playtester that revealed some things that I haven't talked about.)

I had and have a wholly unsatisfied desire to shoot well with a bow. -J.R.R. Tolkien

jameystegmaier wrote:

Also, reviewers have an embargo to say anything until late August (and then another embargo to share their opinions until early September). Just because review copies have been sent doesn't mean they--or anyone--can talk about it.

Looking forward to late August, then. The above breakdown sounds like it really hits a sweet spot for me.

Michael: As a playtester, you're allowed to say anything that I've said publicly. Have I said those things publicly?

Also, reviewers have an embargo to say anything until late August (and then another embargo to share their opinions until early September). Just because review copies have been sent doesn't mean they--or anyone--can talk about it.

Jamey you actually did say all those things today, I remember all of them. I didn't read anything new here on this post that you didn't say in the video.

Edit: I thought you were talking about the original poster. I just noticed that he is not Michael. Maybe Michael already deleted his post.

I had and have a wholly unsatisfied desire to shoot well with a bow. -J.R.R. Tolkien

Geroid wrote:

jameystegmaier wrote:

Michael: As a playtester, you're allowed to say anything that I've said publicly. Have I said those things publicly?

Also, reviewers have an embargo to say anything until late August (and then another embargo to share their opinions until early September). Just because review copies have been sent doesn't mean they--or anyone--can talk about it.

Jamey you actually did say all those things today, I remember all of them. I didn't read anything new here on this post that you didn't say in the video.

Edit: I thought you were talking about the original poster. I just noticed that he is not Michael. Maybe Michael already deleted his post.

The user Jamey was speaking to has deleted his post. I happened to see it and now I don't. Glad they did as they clearly messed up...

-He also mentioned there are lots of asymmetrical civilizations you can start with, more will be left in the box than on the table in a five player game. At the beginning of the game, each player will have “a few” to choose from that were randomly dealt out. They stick with one Civ throughout the game.

-There is a tile laying element on your player mat, somewhat similar to A Feast for Odin. I believe he also mentioned that there are progression tracks you advance on and lots of income (points?) scored in the final rounds, somewhat similar to Russian Railroads. I didn’t catch if he mentioned how it relates to Mombasa. But he identified these three games as his biggest sources of inspiration for the game (including the Civilization video game).

These are the 2 aspects that interested me the most and will persuade me to consider a purchase once I have seen the game-play or a solid video review.

One question i asked in regards to the first point that he did not see was how many of these different Civs/Factions/races are there in the base game and will there be more released. I know he mentioned no planned x-pacs at the moment, but something like more civs is not really an x-pac, but more of an add-on (IMO).

I love that the map will be different every time you play.

So with multiple factions/civs and tile laying to create the board, the number of different experiences and different paths to victory will be very high.

I’m sure there is an even larger appendix to clarify cards and such as needed. But it sounds like you can basically jump into the game and play after reading the 4 page rule book. A lot of games capture this kind of elegance where there is a lot of depth but only a few rules (Ethnos, Concordia, Viticulture, El Grande, etc.).

Marcelo: The game plays great at 2! It's a double-sided board for scaling purposes. I talked a little about downtime in the video in terms of a certain type of turn that players will take a few times during the game that takes a little longer than others--all other turns are very fast, but those turns can lead to a little downtime at larger player counts.

Awesome, I'm really excited about this game, and thanks for summarizing the key points Do you know if some boxes will be shipped to EU retailers, or if an Essen pickup will be available from Stonmaier Games website?

Marcelo: The game plays great at 2! It's a double-sided board for scaling purposes. I talked a little about downtime in the video in terms of a certain type of turn that players will take a few times during the game that takes a little longer than others--all other turns are very fast, but those turns can lead to a little downtime at larger player counts.

Awesome, I'm really excited about this game, and thanks for summarizing the key points Do you know if some boxes will be shipped to EU retailers, or if an Essen pickup will be available from Stonmaier Games website?

Yes, we offer worldwide distribution of the English version for people to buy in retail, and we have localization partners who will offer other languages through retailers too. The game will be available at Essen from Feuerland and Matagot (German, English, and French), but I don't think they'll let people reserve copies in advance.

Marcelo: The game plays great at 2! It's a double-sided board for scaling purposes. I talked a little about downtime in the video in terms of a certain type of turn that players will take a few times during the game that takes a little longer than others--all other turns are very fast, but those turns can lead to a little downtime at larger player counts.

Thanks a ton for taking the time to answer. My girlfriend and I are big fans of your games, so I'm definitely looking forward to this one now.